44
I think your cracking the floor is a blessing in disguise. Clearly there is water under the tile that needs to be dealt with.
I'd start by checking the obvious things like the toilet seal and the bathtub and/or shower drains.
But ultimately you're going to want to pull that tile up, dry it out thoroughly, replace any water-damaged materials, and replace ...
41
So you have two options here
Whistle past the graveyard and caulk it up good. It will fail at some point, but maybe not today? (I don't really suggest doing this)
Rip it down and fix it. Because you should never be able to do this to shower tile. You have serious issues. My bet is they didn't put the backer board up correctly (or support it with, say wood ...
36
When a professional installs a tile floor there should be no visible difference in the thickness of grout lines. I'm not sure what a hard measurement of percentage would be, but lets just say you should be within 15%. Thicker grout lines will give you more room for error, which is why I would use the "visible difference" standard.
Also, the level of the ...
25
Sorry, there is no shortcut here. It's likely damaged well beyond what you can see and the only fix is to tear that all out, remove the drywall that is likely crumbling, replace/repair any studs, check the bottom plate and subfloor for damage, and then restore the entire thing.
23
The best approach is a tile saw that can make small precise cuts along the length of a tile. It is a power tool like a table saw but uses a diamond impregnated blade and a water cooling system. They can be bought or rented.
A cruder approach if the tiles are not too big (4x4 should not be a problem)and there are not too many tiles to cut is a tile nipper.
...
23
With the COVID stuff going on the last thing you want to do is have your family have respiratory issues due to mold. There is mold growing behind your shower, probably on every shower wall. Money or time spent on patching this is both fruitless and reckless.
That article you linked to is click-bait nonsense - maybe 1 in 1000 showers have a little leak ...
20
Looks like schluter ditra waterproofing membrane.
Amazon describes it:
This universal underlayment specifically designed for ceramic and stone tile eliminates the main cause of cracking in your tile installation. Tile and stone are rigid materials and are, therefore, sensitive to stresses originating in the sub floor. This uncoupling membrane allows ...
18
The tile floor shouldn't be a structural weakness, but if it's glazed you won't get a good mortar bond. I'd install anchor bolts every 32" or so, aligned with block cores, and fill those cores with mortar.
It might be easier to simply cut the tile inside the wall line and remove it, though.
Also be aware that your slab may not be designed to carry a ...
18
Updated based on revisions to the question.
The way I see it you have two options, neither of which is nearly as complicated as your proposed solution.
Install a tile accent row with a beveled or bullnose edge or reducing edger (metal trim). This could be from leftover original tile or something else. 1/2" cement board on the subfloor boards will be ...
17
One issue that you don't seem to account for is that the cut edge of a tile is going to look slightly different than a factory edge. For some tiles, it's very obvious that you have a cut piece in the middle of the wall, so cuts are normally reserved for the corners where the edges will be hidden.
Natural tiles like marble or travertine are a solid material ...
17
As suggested by @Ecnerwal, I wrote to Custom Building Products' customer support. Got a reply within 15 minutes:
The isolated areas look to be a bit of sealer residue that might not have been wiped or rubbed dry with dry paper towels after each application within 3 minutes of each application?
If so, this can be safely scrubbed off at any time, using a ...
16
With these types of tiles you do not want them to break as they are harder to demo when they are in bits and shards. If you try to use a scraper (even power) what inevitably ends up happening is the top of the tile comes off, leaving the much harder to remove bottom on. Also this method severely damages the subfloor, sometimes to the point that you will ...
16
I own a pair of tile nippers - I bought them first, they were cheap. Unfortunately, they didn't work (pretty much "at all") on the tiles I was using - breaks would be more or less random.
So I bought one of these dry diamond blades for an angle grinder - if you don't own an angle grinder, this might just be one of the few times I'd say that the cheapest ...
16
The spacing is only the beginning...
The trim should be removed before OR they should have tucked the tile under the trim. This is actually funny because doing either one of these things would have saved them 1-2 hours of work. Tucking the tile under the trim makes layout and spacing super easy and allows you to hide cuts. Just from this mistake I ...
16
You say you're looking for an expedient fix for the duration of the lockdown? That's pretty simple then. Buy a cheap shower curtain, cut it roughly to the size of the missing tiles, and Duck-tape it over that area. Duck tape (the brand) will comfortably stay waterproof for a few months; other brands could well be equally good.
If you plan to renovate the ...
15
Software would be nice, but setting up your room diagram is probably more work than just trying your layout in reality. Plus, there's no substitute for actually seeing it in place.
I usually do this:
Lay a row of tiles down the center of the long axis of the room. Don't forget to space them as you intend to do with the final floor.
At key locations, run ...
14
Anything is possible, but this falls under the Why On Earth Would You category.
Removing and reinstalling a toilet is a fairly simple job for even a novice DIYer. Don't let that intimidate you into making your project far more difficult than it needs to be.
Without knowing the details, here's a basic outline:
Close the water supply valve at the wall.
...
14
I think the solution can be even easier. Most hardware stores will carry uneven transition pieces. They're almost always wood and often are available in a variety of colored stains to match the wood floor. They are beveled in the front, so you don't have any tripping hazard, and they can be easily negotiated by wheeled devices (walkers, etc)
You'll probably ...
13
Disclaimer: I am not an expert. I have worked on about a half dozen seperate tile floors, though! These instructions are not meant for a shower wall or floor, just every day use floors like bathroom, kitchen, mudroom, etc. You should also have a decent bit of knowledge on how to use all the tools safely, and a lot of patience/time. This is not as simple as ...
13
Unless the person was huge and really slammed into the wall, this damage is evidence of a seriously substandard shower wall. In any case it needs to be demoed and redone.
If the tub or shower bottom is placed so that the wall must be single layer (green wallboard or cement board), it might be a good idea to put blocking between the studs. Maybe 2x4 blocking ...
12
The toilet flange needs to be on top of the finished floor. Meaning the bottom edge of the flange needs to be on the same plane as the toilet. So if your toilet sits on the tile, the flange needs to be on top of the tile too. The spacing of the toilet exit "horn" and sealing surface is designed for this height.
almost all plumbers agree, here are some ...
12
I've cut plenty of tile and don't recall kickback occurring, at least in the sense we think of with table saws. For one thing, the rotating mass of a 4" diamond wheel is a small fraction of that of a 12" table saw blade. For another, it's almost physically impossible to get the kind of sudden engagement of blade to material with a diamond wheel and ...
11
The "correct" way to do it, is to remove or cut the tile where the wall will go. Whether or not you want to do that, is up to your personal preference.
11
Caulking always! Fill the tub 50% with water and caulk it. Allow the caulking to dry then drain the tub. If you caulk with no water in the tub poly, fiberglass and composite tubs stretch and tear the caulk when filled. Cast tubs are usually solid enough to not make a difference.
10
It’s highly unlikely that “failed” grout would create the refill rate of wet flooring you describe. Most shower failures are generated by leaky or failing plumbing in the wall, behind the tile.
I have often seen the water damage extend to the framing, which necessitates cutting out and replacing that portion of framing. Your wet floor problem needs to be ...
10
Call a plumber immediately!
This is uncomfortably close to my recent experiences..
My kitchen floor had a damaged tile (similar story, something got dropped on it) and water was welling up from under it when it was stepped on.
We thought it might have been absorbed by water seeping into the damaged area, so it wasn't a huge issue, it would dry out, then it ...
10
Kickback yes.
Kickback like most have experienced trying to push a 4x8 through a crappy table saw... no
What you will get with a tile saw is more of a blip. And the structure of the saw or table may "move" but it won't be with any umpphhh. What will happen more likely is that your tile will jerk (a tiny bit normally but I have seen guys have ...
10
Well, design is always subjective and your question is probably unanswerable because of this fact.
Would you be willing to incorporate a 7" section of smaller backsplash tiles to that transition from shower to sink?
What if you did it in the corner of the shower?
What about up the middle where the showerhead is like this:
Have you considered how hard ...
9
There may or may not be an easy answer to your question. I would start by calling the grout and tile manufacturers to get their opinion. In general though... You should reasonably expect to get the quality of service you contracted and paid for.
Bottom line is do you think you're getting what you paid for. Not what you think you paid for. If you hire the ...
9
This floor has been floated, a very common and traditional method for preparing surfaces for tile. To "float" is to apply a cement and sand mix similar to concrete but without rocks, gravel or coarse sand. A 2" thick float is not uncommon at all.
It is often applied using a "dry pack" method wherein only enough water is mixed to ensure proper set but wet ...
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